Crime in England and Wales falls to lowest level since records began in 1981

The Office for National Statistics reports:

Latest figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) showed that, for the offences it covers, there were an estimated 6.9 million incidents of crime against households and resident adults (aged 16 and over) in England and Wales. This is a 7% decrease compared with the previous year’s survey, and the lowest estimate since the CSEW began in 1981. The CSEW covers a broad range of victim based crimes and includes crimes which do not come to the attention of the police.

The important point to note about the Crime Survey data is that, unlike records of crimes reported to the police, it is independent of any pressure from within the police to massage crime figures and also independent of changes in how crimes are recorded by the police (such as the much improved recording of sexual assault and similar offences, which makes the police recorded crime figures both better yet also higher).